Carcanet Press - Anvil New Poets

Description
Authors
Awards
Reviews

An introductory anthology of ten new poets who had previously only appeared in poetry magazines. Many have gone on to further publication and established reputations. Poets included:

Shirley Bell
Patricia Doubell
Mimi Khalvati
Felicity Napier
Bibhu Padhi
William Palmer
Petra Regent
Valerie Thornton
Gerard Woodward

and a selection of poems by Oktay Rifat translated by Ruth Christie and Richard McKane.

Shirley Bell

Shireley Bell lives on a Lincolnshire cactus farm with her physicist husband and their children. Her poems have been widely published in magazines such as Poetry Review, Ambit, Critical Quarterly, London Magazine and The Wide Skirt, and broadcast on Radio 3's Poetry Now . A pamphlet, Hanging Windows on the ... read more

Patricia Doubell

Patricia Doubell was born in Dorset. She trained as a dancer and danced proffesionally, before marrying and farming in Wales. Her poetry was first published in Adam, and subsequently in Tribune, Outposts, Pick, Breif, Workshop Magazine, Poets International, Doves for the 70s and The Evans Book of Children's ... read more

Mimi Khalvati

Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran, Iran, and grew up on the Isle of Wight. She has lived most of her life in London. After training at Drama Centre London, she worked as an actor in the UK and as a director at the Theatre Workshop Tehran and on the fringe ... read more

Awards won by Mimi Khalvati Winner, 2023 The King's Gold Medal for Poetry
Winner, 2019 Poetry Book Society Winter Wild Card (Afterwardness) Winner, 2014 Poetry Book Society Recommendation (The Weather Wheel) Winner, 2011 Poetry Book Society Special Commendation (Child) Short-listed, 2007 The T.S. Eliot Prize (The Meanest Flower)

Praise for Mimi Khalvati '[Collected Poems] provides acres of proof of her brilliance, and her unique ability to turn language into lyric poems that beguile'.
Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian
'This generous, expansive volume affirms Khalvati's place as one of the UK's most accomplished lyric poets.'
Jennifer Lee Tsai, The Guardian
'The marvel of these poems is in their pure lyric flow â like shining a torch around a dark room. Each poem is wonderfully adroit, capturing, often with child-like relish, the touch of the world.'
Maitreyabandhu, Poem 'She has the ability to find the sublime in art, the capacity to transform things into something that seems lasting... single moments of light in the face of encroaching darkness.'
Kwame Dawes, Poetry Review
'... [m]ystical and down-to-earth, innovative and approachable, precise in visual detail but roomy in vision...'
Carol Rumens, The Guardian 'Khalvati's method is never formulaic and is always open to experience.'
W S Milne, Agenda
'What I find remarkable is how little ego there is in this exploration, how sensitively and empathetically Khalvati looks out to the experience of other people, mixing hers with theirs so that the two often become indistinguishable'
Edmund Prestwich, The North
'This collection has so many layers and cross-currents. There are rich memories hiding here'
D A Powell, Under the Radar
'Poetry of the highest order'
John Wheway, The High Window

'What is particularly striking throughout the collection is how the poems are able to move through time in relation to one's age, life or nationality.'

Anthony Anaxagorou, PBS Winter Selection 2019

'In so many of these poems, the images frame and enunciate the character of an exiles life with tremendous resonance. The recurrent, deeply traditional formal design of the Petrarchan sonnet grounds the collection and provides a containing experience of consistency and reliability that contrasts with all the disorientation, the displacement, the endless efforts to make a new home that never quite yield a secure sense of belonging....This is a collection in which I have been grateful to immerse myself.'

John Wheway, The High Window

'This book feels a little like an act of self-haunting ... like tender postcards from afar, addressed to the poet herself'

Michael Glover, The Tablet

'Colour combines with contemplation [...] The symmetry is elegant, and the collection is a sophisticated, original exploration of a self made in and by the new language'

Fiona Sampson, The Guardian

'I found these sonnets to be exquisite and remarkable, not only for Mimi Khalvati's formal virtuosity but also for her bold and brilliant charting of new ground, in exploring the energies of absence, silence and unknowing. The poet's ear in these poems is attuned not to obvious noise but to night sounds, faint traces, on those whose lives lack narrative or 'underscript'. These poems are playful, moving and brimming with a fierce intelligence., and in this collection, her ninth, Mimi Khalvati is writing at the very height of her lyric power.'
Hannah Lowe
'Poems of extraordinary rigour and sensitivity. I know of no other contemporary poet who combines, so consistently and so deftly, the formal requirements of metre and rhyme, with the poets' demand for truth-to-experience expressed in natural, unaffected speech.'
Maitreyabandhu
This brilliant poet's crab-apple tree imparts the same kind of gorgeous and devastating self-knowledge granted Eve by the biblical Tree of Life.
Rafel Campo, Boston Review
This open and generous readiness to engage with all realities and see their worth gives Khalvati her power... graceful accomplishment is always in the service of a fundamental seriousness.
Bernard O'Donoghue, Poetry London
A lovely book, so accomplished, various, comprehensive and abundant. The poems are quick and touching, joyfully and sorrowfully open to the phenomena of the real world, they say what it feels like being human, the good and the ill of it, with passion, tact and lightness.
David Constantine Khalvati's writing draws on diverse worlds and poetic traditions, and enriches the dominant culture of British poetry...Intricate, sensuous and vulnerable...Mimi Khalvati's work will endure.
Moniza Alvi, Poetry Wales
Mimi Khalvati is one of the most poignant and graceful poets writing in England currently. The Meanest Flower speaks often of grief and loss but also of great pleasure in the world, in gardens, in loves, in other people. Under the lyricism there is an iron control that achieves its grace through subtlety. There reader is aware one is in the presence of a mind, a heart and an ear that has been schooled in depth, that finds it as naturally as do the flowers of the title.
George Szirtes
Khalvati writes exquisitely nuanced lyrics of love and loss, which draw on childhood, motherhood and the natural world. These [The Meanest Flower] are tender poems in the English Romantic tradition.
No. 3 in 'The Ten Best New poetry collections' - Independent, 2007

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Anvil New Poets Shirley Bell, Patricia Doubell and Mimi Khalvati Imprint: Anvil Press Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (144 pages) (Pub. Nov 1996) 9780856462306 Out of Stock Description Authors Awards Reviews An introductory anthology of ten new poets who had previously only appeared in poetry magazines. Many have gone on to further publication and established reputations. Poets included: Shirley Bell Patricia Doubell Mimi Khalvati Felicity Napier Bibhu Padhi William Palmer Petra Regent Valerie Thornton Gerard Woodward and a selection of poems by Oktay Rifat translated by Ruth Christie and Richard McKane. Shirley Bell Shireley Bell lives on a Lincolnshire cactus farm with her physicist husband and their children. Her poems have been widely published in magazines such as Poetry Review, Ambit, Critical Quarterly, London Magazine and The Wide Skirt, and broadcast on Radio 3's Poetry Now . A pamphlet, Hanging Windows on the ... read more Patricia Doubell Patricia Doubell was born in Dorset. She trained as a dancer and danced proffesionally, before marrying and farming in Wales. Her poetry was first published in Adam, and subsequently in Tribune, Outposts, Pick, Breif, Workshop Magazine, Poets International, Doves for the 70s and The Evans Book of Children's ... read more Mimi Khalvati Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran, Iran, and grew up on the Isle of Wight. She has lived most of her life in London. After training at Drama Centre London, she worked as an actor in the UK and as a director at the Theatre Workshop Tehran and on the fringe ... read more Awards won by Mimi Khalvati Winner, 2023 The King's Gold Medal for Poetry Winner, 2019 Poetry Book Society Winter Wild Card (Afterwardness) Winner, 2014 Poetry Book Society Recommendation (The Weather Wheel) Winner, 2011 Poetry Book Society Special Commendation (Child) Short-listed, 2007 The T.S. Eliot Prize (The Meanest Flower) Praise for Mimi Khalvati '[Collected Poems] provides acres of proof of her brilliance, and her unique ability to turn language into lyric poems that beguile'. Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian 'This generous, expansive volume affirms Khalvati's place as one of the UK's most accomplished lyric poets.' Jennifer Lee Tsai, The Guardian 'The marvel of these poems is in their pure lyric flow â like shining a torch around a dark room. Each poem is wonderfully adroit, capturing, often with child-like relish, the touch of the world.' Maitreyabandhu, Poem 'She has the ability to find the sublime in art, the capacity to transform things into something that seems lasting... single moments of light in the face of encroaching darkness.' Kwame Dawes, Poetry Review '... [m]ystical and down-to-earth, innovative and approachable, precise in visual detail but roomy in vision...' Carol Rumens, The Guardian 'Khalvati's method is never formulaic and is always open to experience.' W S Milne, Agenda 'What I find remarkable is how little ego there is in this exploration, how sensitively and empathetically Khalvati looks out to the experience of other people, mixing hers with theirs so that the two often become indistinguishable' Edmund Prestwich, The North 'This collection has so many layers and cross-currents. There are rich memories hiding here' D A Powell, Under the Radar 'Poetry of the highest order' John Wheway, The High Window 'What is particularly striking throughout the collection is how the poems are able to move through time in relation to one's age, life or nationality.' Anthony Anaxagorou, PBS Winter Selection 2019 'In so many of these poems, the images frame and enunciate the character of an exiles life with tremendous resonance. The recurrent, deeply traditional formal design of the Petrarchan sonnet grounds the collection and provides a containing experience of consistency and reliability that contrasts with all the disorientation, the displacement, the endless efforts to make a new home that never quite yield a secure sense of belonging....This is a collection in which I have been grateful to immerse myself.' John Wheway, The High Window 'This book feels a little like an act of self-haunting ... like tender postcards from afar, addressed to the poet herself' Michael Glover, The Tablet 'Colour combines with contemplation [...] The symmetry is elegant, and the collection is a sophisticated, original exploration of a self made in and by the new language' Fiona Sampson, The Guardian 'I found these sonnets to be exquisite and remarkable, not only for Mimi Khalvati's formal virtuosity but also for her bold and brilliant charting of new ground, in exploring the energies of absence, silence and unknowing. The poet's ear in these poems is attuned not to obvious noise but to night sounds, faint traces, on those whose lives lack narrative or 'underscript'. These poems are playful, moving and brimming with a fierce intelligence., and in this collection, her ninth, Mimi Khalvati is writing at the very height of her lyric power.' Hannah Lowe 'Poems of extraordinary rigour and sensitivity. I know of no other contemporary poet who combines, so consistently and so deftly, the formal requirements of metre and rhyme, with the poets' demand for truth-to-experience expressed in natural, unaffected speech.' Maitreyabandhu This brilliant poet's crab-apple tree imparts the same kind of gorgeous and devastating self-knowledge granted Eve by the biblical Tree of Life. Rafel Campo, Boston Review This open and generous readiness to engage with all realities and see their worth gives Khalvati her power... graceful accomplishment is always in the service of a fundamental seriousness. Bernard O'Donoghue, Poetry London A lovely book, so accomplished, various, comprehensive and abundant. The poems are quick and touching, joyfully and sorrowfully open to the phenomena of the real world, they say what it feels like being human, the good and the ill of it, with passion, tact and lightness. David Constantine Khalvati's writing draws on diverse worlds and poetic traditions, and enriches the dominant culture of British poetry...Intricate, sensuous and vulnerable...Mimi Khalvati's work will endure. Moniza Alvi, Poetry Wales Mimi Khalvati is one of the most poignant and graceful poets writing in England currently. The Meanest Flower speaks often of grief and loss but also of great pleasure in the world, in gardens, in loves, in other people. Under the lyricism there is an iron control that achieves its grace through subtlety. There reader is aware one is in the presence of a mind, a heart and an ear that has been schooled in depth, that finds it as naturally as do the flowers of the title. George Szirtes Khalvati writes exquisitely nuanced lyrics of love and loss, which draw on childhood, motherhood and the natural world. These [The Meanest Flower] are tender poems in the English Romantic tradition. *No. 3 in 'The Ten Best New poetry collections' - Independent, 2007*	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog We've Moved! read more Books of the Year read more One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more
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Anvil New Poets

Shirley Bell, Patricia Doubell and Mimi Khalvati